Bowing in his most gracious manner and holding his hat in his one free hand, Barclugh said graciously:
“Good morning, Madam. Is your husband at home?”
No answer, except a dubious shake of the head, accompanied by a most pleasant smile. She walked into the one room of the house, and offered Barclugh a chair when she had a good look at his crippled arm and bandaged shoulder.
Everything about the fisherman’s home was plain, yet scrupulously clean. The floor was glistening with the purest of sand. The large fireplace took up nearly the whole end of the house. A kettle, a skillet, and a three-legged, shallow pot sat on the hearth. A broad table was on one side, which had been scoured with sand and soft soap until the knots alone showed what character the wood once had.
Without any ceremony, the good wife began to prepare a meal. First she put a pot on with fresh water, then went out to the river bank where her husband kept lobsters and crabs in a small trap. By using a small dipping-net, she brought out a large lobster and a half a dozen crabs.
These were hurried into the steaming kettle, and there sat Barclugh watching his meal cook, while he became acquainted with the children by making grimaces at them.
Barclugh ate his sea food, potatoes, and coarse bread with much relish. He offered the good housewife a piece of silver, but she only shook her head in the negative.
The day wore on and Barclugh sat on the river bank, watching the children build houses in the sand, and the dog pant in the broiling sun. He knew that the fisherman must come home, and then he would find some one with whom he could converse. However, a foreign-tongued woman and guileless children suited his purpose, for the less that he had to talk the better for him.
The sun was setting over the broad expanse of sea-marsh, when a well-rigged fishing sloop drew into the river’s mouth and landed at the fisherman’s hut. Two gnarly Swedes and a lad jumped ashore. The older one was the husband of the young woman, evidently, for she went to the landing and in a few words explained to him the presence of the stranger.
The Swede approached Barclugh, who noticed that the fisherman’s face was much weather-beaten, his beard shaggy and unkempt.